It’s
probably no surprise that the majority of our travels and even our normal
day-to-day lives revolve around food.
That’s
what happens when you’re married to a pastry chef and love food, at least that’s
what I tell my husband.
This
year, we did quite a bit of traveling in Europe and ate well
along the way. From the backstreets of Istanbul to cozy brasseries and from
eating at Michelin-starred restaurants to dining at home with friends, we’ve
had a lot of good meals. I’d rather spend the money on a wonderful meal than on
something with less value to me like jewelry or new clothes.
The
following destinations are where we had some of our Best Meals in 2014! Where did you have your favorite meal this
year? I’d love to know!
Bon appétit!
Joy
In
March, we spent a long, leisurely weekend in Lake Como and ended with a home-cooked,
four-course dinner at Osteria Sali e Tabacchi, a cozy,
Slow Food restaurant located in Mandello del Lario. Eating here was like being
invited into an Italian’s mother’s home where local ingredients are key. A few
of the dishes I remember: local fish in two dishes, cured Italian meats for an
antipasti, braised beef with polenta, pumpkin-filled ravioli and homemade
pistachio gelato. Be sure to make reservations in advance!
I
never thought I’d have a good steak dinner in Istanbul, but in March our
Turkish friend, Huseyin, proved me wrong. Our meal at Nusr-Et Steakhouse consisted of lokum (Turkish delight), spaghetti
(thinly sliced beef), sliced-to-order lamb ribs, unlimited crispy fries and a
salad. The meat used comes from the Marmara Sea region and was quite tender and
juicy.
And
for dessert, don’t skimp on the pistachio baklava that is flown in fresh every
day from Gaziantep and served tableside with
a generous scoop of Maras dondurma.
My mouth is watering just thinking about this heavenly baklava!
In
May, we spent my birthday in Paris. I had My
Delicious Day in Paris and then later we went to Au Pied de Cochon for
French oysters and dinner. This wasn’t our best meal ever in Paris, but it’s more
that this brasserie holds a special place in our hearts. We first ate here in
2009 right after my now husband had proposed.
In
July, I followed hubby on his business trip to London. We arrived two days
early so we could enjoy ourselves and have a good meal at St. John Bread &
Wine, which we first had visited in 2010. The standouts here were the foie
gras on toast (I love foie!), roasted duck leg with peas and bacon and an
appetizer of salt beef hash with a fried duck egg on top. All delicious! The
only miss was the too-tart gooseberry pavlova for dessert.
In
August, we sadly bid farewell to our fun Aussie friends with a fancy dinner at
the new Senses Restaurant. This was our
most expensive meal of the year at 380pln ($125) per person, but this doesn’t
include the bottle of champagne and post dinner drinks we shared. You can tell that
the French-Italian chef, Andrea Camastra, likes to play with molecular
gastronomy here with the foams, jellies and smoke used throughout our
multi-course dinner.
Our
first courses included tuna with lard and corn, beetroot with goat cheese and
foie gras and smoked eel with a scallop, celeriac and potato puree, which was
my least favorite dish.
Next
courses were a monkfish goulash with beans, kobe beef ribs with cherries and
spring onions and a yogurt dessert with fresh “forest fruits.” I loved all of
these dishes and wish I had more of the beef dish!
Overall,
Senses definitely was an interesting experience, but I could have done without
the chocolate-beet drink and some of the hocus-pocus smoke. The best part of
this meal was spending another fun night with our good friends before we said
goodbye!
Tallinn
In
November, we enjoyed our best meal in Tallinn (as part of our Baltic road trip) at a cozy restaurant called Salt Restoran, tucked in the residential
neighborhood of Kadriorg. It's headed by local chef Silver Saa who focuses on
using seasonal ingredients, which seems to be the trend everywhere. We ordered the seared scallops with wakame, pumpkin
cream and ginger beurre blanc, a not-so classic beef tartar, veal cheeks with red wine
sauce and grilled endive and crispy duck breast with roasted beetroots, plum
jam and sherry sauce. I had a difficult time sharing my veal cheeks because
they were irresistibly tender and delicious!
For
dessert, we shared a chocolate cake with salted caramel and the pumpkin cream (panna
cotta?) with cocoa.
The
total meal cost was 108 euros ($132), which included a 26eu ($32) bottle of red
wine and 2 glasses of Spanish cava at 6eu ($7.30) each, making it our most
expensive meal on this trip. However, I feel like Salt was definitely a
restaurant worth seeking out!
At
the end of November, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Düsseldorf, Germany. Before stuffing ourselves with
turkey, JT took us to Manima Der Laote, a restaurant owned
by his friend that specializes in Laotian food. The chef/owner greeted us and
he instantly reminded me of NYC chef David Chang, owner of Momofuku. I knew we were in good
hands! The highlights of this meal were the very spicy green papaya salad and
minced duck meat served with lettuce leaves and sticky rice.
San Sebastian
This
coastal, Spanish city is all about the pintxos!
With so many good restaurants to choose from, you really can’t go wrong here.
We had to escape from the drunken crowds of the Santo Tomas Festival on
December 21st so we went to the Gros neighborhood across the river.
Here, we got our pintxos on at Bergara Bar, a local place recommended by
our pension owner. We liked this place because we could actually sit down, it
was quiet enough to where we could actually converse and the food was delicious
and fresh.
We
ordered mushroom risotto with foie gras ( my favorite), Spanish tortilla with
roasted red peppers, a croquette, a seafood “tin can” and a few other items. Bergara
Bar was a great recommendation!
Southwest France
We
ended 2014 with a road trip through Southwest France and
enjoyed several outstanding, homecooked meals with our French friend’s
families. I’m so grateful for this expat life that allows us to
travel, to meet new people and to enjoy new experiences together. The French
families went all out with their hospitality and with course after course of
decadent food for the Christmas season.
 |
| Just some of the courses from our French meals on December 23, 24 and 25th. |
 |
| Christmas part II on December 26th. |
After
eating like this for four days in a row, I felt like a fat French saucisson! I'm thankful to our friends, but I still feel fat!
I
might have to kick off 2015 with a bit of dieting after all these trips!
